


next of kin

by twistedsky



Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 17:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17125565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedsky/pseuds/twistedsky
Summary: Prompt:  "Harry being domestic."  A year in the life of Harry being part of the sisters' lives.  Set post-1x09 (Jingle Hell).





	next of kin

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Charmed secret santa fic for @psychgirl47 on tumblr.
> 
> Happy holidays! I hope my interpretation of the prompt fits what you were looking for (Harry doing domestic activities like cooking, decorating, being a part of the family).

_January_

After three weeks of hell, Harry returns back to his normal life. Or, at least, he certainly tries to return to his normal life, but literal hell is a bit more difficult to recover from than he'd hoped.

Things are better now. He's home. Everything should be just fine, but unfortunately, it's not.

"You should stay here," Maggie says after he first returns.

"At least for the night," Mel agrees, and Macy nods her agreement as well.

He's certainly in rough shape.  He could use a bubble bath, or five.

This is how he ends his first night in the regular world, and his second, too.

After the third, without even a hint of prodding from the sisters, Harry returns to his own home. It's a rented apartment near the university, for practical reasons only. He's not that far from the sisters, realistically, though none of them have seen the inside of his home, which is still covered in festive decorations.

When you disappear on Christmas, he supposes that you leave a bit of a holiday jamboree behind.

And so, he does what he does best, and he begins cleaning—anything to keep the dark thoughts at bay. He's woken up with nightmares since his return, and unfortunately, he supposes he'll just have to wait them out. There are still two days until the new school term, and while his syllabi and course guides have been prepared, he needs desperately to get back into the swing of things with regards to that as well.

He picks up a fistful of tree needles off the ground near his now sad, wilted Christmas tree, and thinks that next time he ends up in hell, he ought to make sure someone knows to take care of his plants.

~~~

_February_

"Do we have to decorate?" Macy asks, but she helps Harry hang up the red and pink Valentine's Day decorations regardless. "It's Valentine's Day, it isn't exactly a legitimate holiday."

"But we're having a party," Maggie calls out from across the living room. "I want decorations."

"I don't know what you want to celebrate the worst holiday of the year," Macy says. "We're all extremely single. Like, depressing break-up single, not super-empowered women single."

"I feel super-empowered," Maggie frowns. "We can't mope forever. I want us to celebrate _us_."

"That's an excellent approach to take," Harry agrees. "Stay positive," he does a small fist pump into the air and smiles, but it's not as authentic as he'd like it to be. It _is_ barely a holiday. He finishes hanging a streamer, and then climbs down the ladder.

"Is it cookie time?" Mel comes into the living room then. She's melancholy, but that's to be expected.

"I was just about to start preparations," Harry says, "Would you like to join me?"

"I just want to eat the cookies," Mel hesitates. "I'm not feeling very—" she waves a hand. "Celebratory."

"We'll fix that," Maggie chimes in. "Help Harry with the cookies, while Macy and I make the punch."

Macy smiles, and then narrows her eyes and speaks solemnly. "Just so long as you know that I am not letting you put so much alcohol into the punch that I have to drink one of Harry's hangover cures again."

“They aren’t that bad,” Harry protests.

“Yes, they are,” Maggie says kindly, patting him on the arm. “But they work, which is the most important thing.”

“Function over taste,” Macy says without heat.

Harry motions Mel into the kitchen, and she groans.

“Do I have to?”

“Yes!” Maggie calls out after them.

Mel sits at a bar stool, putting her head on the kitchen island. “I miss Niko,” she mumbles.

Harry pulls out the dishes and ingredients they’ll need. His cookies must be made from scratch, which means more work, and more reward.

“I know,” Harry says sympathetically. “But you made the right decision. You saved her life. I think that’s the greatest gift you could give her.”

Mel picks up her head and props it up with her hands as if she otherwise could not hold it up, still hunched over and frowning. “It’s been months, Harry. Why do I not feel better?”

“Great loves don’t fade immediately,” Harry says gently. “Or all at once. Give it time.” He wants to tell her that she’ll fall in love again, but the truth is that it isn’t that simple, not for a witch.

She could end up right back in this situation again and again if she isn’t careful.  Or she could end up like Maggie, having her heart broken by a demon. Or like Macy, split from the one she cares about by another witch's magic.

When Mel chooses to move on, it’ll have to be because she wants to, and not because she was pushed to do so by someone else.

Mel watches him start mixing the cookie ingredients together, and then she frowns.  “Is that a new mixer?"

“Your old mixer was broken,” Harry shrugs. “I needed something a bit more powerful and efficient.”

“So you bought us a new mixer,” Mel narrows her eyes.

“It was really for myself,” Harry says, a little uncomfortable.

Mel studies him carefully for a moment, and then finally smiles. “That’s really sweet, Harry.”

Harry smiles back, and then says, “If you aren’t going to help prepare the cookies, then you’ll have to decorate them.  These are the sugar cookies, so you’ll need to grab the stencil shapes—” Harry motions to the cupboard. “And you’ll have to frost them afterwards.”

Mel hesitates. “Will there be sprinkles?”

Harry scoffs. “Will there be sprinkles? Of course there’ll be sprinkles.”

Mel laughs, and just like that, her fog lifts.

~~

_May_

“Maggie and Mel are going to kill me,” Macy says, but she doesn’t stop what she’s doing.

He does not mention that, and instead waits patiently for her to figure out how she’s going to fix this.  Or, at least, decide that she’s _going_ to fix this. She’s possessed by something, but it seems less demonic, and more emotional.

He walked in to the Vera-Vaughn house to see Macy completely reorganizing the living room furniture, and it seems that she’d already gotten to  _everything_ else.

He gives the room a cursory glance, and then tilts his head to the side, “Is that new wallpaper?” he asks, startled.

“Yes,” Macy admits. “Help me move this couch.”

He acquiesces. He gets into position at the end of the couch. “Are we moving it back to where it was, or are we still redecorating?”

“I don’t know,” Macy admits, then hesitates. “Maggie and Mel’s dad is coming to visit. I don’t know why I’m panicking. I should have just left things alone. But then I started thinking about how awkward it is, and how I’m living here, and I thought about my relationship with my own dad, and how he always needed to be impressed.”

“Maybe you should take a seat on the couch instead of moving it,” Harry suggests, and Macy nods, plopping gently on the couch.

He sits next to her, gently patting her shoulder.

“I felt like I was always being judged, and I needed to be perfect.” Macy admits finally.

“You don’t need to be perfect,” Harry points out. “You know that.”

“I do,” Macy says, “But then I just . . . freaked out. I don’t even know if I want to meet their dad. But I suddenly felt like I had to justify my presence in their lives.”

“You’re their sister,” Harry points out. “You don’t have to justify anything to anyone. Except maybe that wallpaper,” he nods toward the wallpaper that she put up on only one of the four walls of the room. It doesn’t match the rest of the living space’s wallpaper, which means they’re going to need to undo it within the next four hours before the other sisters get home. "I'm afraid it's not going to work as an accent wall."

Macy laughs, and then gasps. “Oh no. What have I done?”

“Nothing we can’t fix,” Harry says, already standing up to get started.  This is where he shines: problem solving and domestic shenanigans.

“You haven’t seen upstairs. Or the kitchen.”

“What did you do to the kitchen?” Harry is aghast, and if he weren’t already dead, he’d turn a deathly white now.

Macy hesitates. “Maybe I should reorganize that myself.  You can stay out here.”

“We’re a team,” Harry says firmly. “But more importantly, I know that kitchen like the back of my hand.” He could probably organize it in his sleep, or blindfolded. 

Macy stands up. “Okay, we need a game plan,” she says. “You know,” she says casually, “It’s almost like you live here. It’s weird that you don’t, considering how much time you spend here.”

Harry doesn’t grace this comment with a response, which is perfect because Macy has already moved on to sizing up the house to figure out what she’s done. It’s like she was in a daze, and now she’s clear-headed once more.

Macy Vaughn is back in control. Everything will be just fine.

~~

_July_

Harry wakes up on Independence Day from a particularly nasty nightmare.

For the most part, he’s overcome them, but every once in a while they pop up again.  He’s been through horrible things before—he’s _died_ before—but this is different. He doesn’t remember his past life, and so it’s more of an inherent emptiness in his being, something that he’ll never quite fill.

Maybe he has some secret innermost turmoil that his conscious mind won’t let him deal with, and instead his subconscious is busy torturing him to some greater end.

Or maybe, he thinks, as he finishes grading papers from a graduate seminar and prepares for the sisters’ barbecue, it’s a simple after effect of trauma—not entirely predictable or understandable.

He shows up early, as is his wont, and prepares the barbecue. It evokes a certain amount of vague nostalgia that he doesn't even attempt to decipher.

“Tofu burgers,” Maggie says, coming over with a plate of uncooked burgers. “And the actual meat,” Macy says, following up behind her. They both smile at him, and it feels very nice.

It’s dangerous to get close to his whitelighter charges, but it has not dulled his senses, or made him any less vigilant in protecting the sisters.

This closeness is temporary, as all these things are. But for while it lasts, he will stand here in his ‘Romaine calm, and lettuce carrot on’ kitchen apron (a novelty gift from the sisters) and enjoy the sunny skies, chirping birds, and the soft murmur of voices from the sisters and their closest friends and family.  

It’s a category that he belongs to. For this, he feels blessed.

~~ 

_September_

“This is Niko,” Mel says at their pre-back to school party. Since most of them study or work in academia-centered professions, it’s a big deal.  If only because the foot traffic on campus is far more manageable during the summer, which also seems to mean fewer opportunities for demons to murder people on-campus.  Instead, the demons have to branch out. And branch out they have.

But now—"Harry Greenwood,” Harry says, shaking Niko’s hand. It feels a bit odd, and the wide-eyed and terrified look on Mel’s face seems to indicate that something has not gone to plan.

It’s been so long since Mel has seen Niko, since she had to wipe away their histories and lives together. It’s a pain that he empathizes with, and isn’t sure how she’ll handle.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Niko says with a smile, reaching up to adjust her glasses. “How do you know Mel?” Niko asks.

“We work together,” Mel chirps. “Or, well, worked together. I used to work at the university, which is where he works now.”

“Oh, it’s nice that you guys kept in touch,” Niko says, a little off-balance from Mel’s obvious nervousness. “Are you okay?”

Harry wants very much to step away, but instead he busies himself reorganizing the alcohol bar. This is why he hadn’t wanted to man it, but Maggie is extremely persuasive in that she doesn’t allow you any opportunities to say no.

“I’m fine,” Mel says, but she doesn’t seem fine.

Macy and Maggie walk over now, and Maggie blurts out “Niko,” before Mel gives her a sharp look.

“I’m sorry, have we met?” Niko frowns, trying to place her.

“Briefly, I think,” Maggie says, attempting to cover. “Maybe? Maybe not. Life’s a mystery,” she says, and it’s clear that she still needs to work on her cover stories.

“I think we saw that interview you did with the local station after that big murder string got solved last month,” Macy says instead, and Mel looks at her curiously, like she’s wondering how Macy's been stalking Mel's ex-girlfriend without Mel knowing.

“I think I saw the very same one,” Harry adds in.

“That must have been it,” Maggie agrees easily. “How did you two meet?” she asks, motioning between Niko and Mel.

“It’s nothing,” Mel says. “Niko is dating Grace, who is on one of the same volunteer committees as I am. Grace couldn’t make it, but she suggested that her new girlfriend—” she motions to Niko, “Who I had just met at a food drive, should come to this party.”  
It hasn't cleared anything up for anyone, but instead of digging deeper, it seems best to move in.

“Drink?” Harry offers instead, and they all nod their heads thankfully. Niko doesn’t seem to notice, just thinks her new girlfriend’s friend has weird friends. It’s harmless, as far as she’s concerned.

~~

After, when it’s just the four of them, Harry brings Mel a beer, and sits down on the couch across from the chair Mel is moping in.

“You didn’t have to do all of the cleanup,” Mel says.

“We didn’t mind,” Macy says softly, sitting on the arm of the chair that Mel is in. “The three of us made quick work of it." She orients herself to face Mel. "Are you okay?"

“It happened really fast,” Mel admits. “I wasn’t ready to see her, even after all of this time.”

“I know,” Macy says, leaning in against her with a half hug. “It must be hard.”

“I don’t know if it’s worse to have her in my life and not be able to be with her, or to not have her at all,” Mel admits. “It’s like a dark cloud has been hanging over me. But I saw her, and it was pure sunshine.”

“I’m sorry,” Maggie says. “I know how much you love her.”

“Hey,” Mel says weakly, “No mind-reading.”

“I don’t have to read your mind to know how much you’re hurting right now,” Maggie points out. “I know _you_ , and I know how you felt, and how you feel, about Niko. That’s not easy to get over.”

Mel nods. “Sometimes I wish I could just flip a switch,” she admits.

“Unfortunately,” Harry says, “It’s not quite that simple. We must work through our baggage in order to triumph over it. And while it hurts now, we will get you through this.”

“I know,” Mel says. “I just think she was my soulmate, and I don’t know how you really get over that.”

Unfortunately, there isn't too much else they can say to that.

 ~~

_November_

“That smells incredible,” Maggie exclaims, coming into the kitchen for Thanksgiving. “I am so glad we have a live-in chef,” she says.

“I don’t live here,” he points out.

Maggie waves a hand, as if somehow that’s only a technicality. “You decorate our house for holidays, you cook, you clean, you’re our _whitelighter_. I’m not sure what else you have to do in order to be part of the family.”

“Why, Maggie,” Harry feels deeply humbled, “I do believe that might be one of the most touching things anyone has ever said to me.”

“Aw,” Maggie says, and then she closes the distance between them for a quick hug. “You’re our very own Meghan Markle. What would we do without you?”

Harry frowns, but doesn’t have a chance to comment, because Mel and Macy walk in.

“What did we miss?” Mel asks, plopping herself down in a kitchen chair.

“I was just being grateful for Harry,” Maggie explains.

“That’s so sweet,” Macy says. “I honestly can’t imagine my life without all of you now, including Harry,” she smiles at him. “It’s wild how quickly your life can take a completely different shape, and then there you are.”

~~

Later that night, when Harry and Macy are doing the dishes, he has a brief moment. They don’t come too often anymore, but when they do, they’re paralyzing. It's akin to a panic attack; just a few minutes of deep, paralyzing panic.

“Harry,” Macy says softly. “Are you okay?”

He’s not, he’s completely frozen.

She rubs his arm gently. “Harry?”

“I’m fine,” he says finally. “I just—the water in the sink reminded me of something.”

“Something good?” Macy asks, but she doesn’t look hopeful.

“No,” Harry admits. “Not really." 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Macy asks.

"It's nothing," Harry says.

"It doesn't really seem like nothing," Macy says gently. "But that's okay. You can always talk to any of us, when you're ready."

He's not ready, not yet. But maybe, one day. "I should go," he says now. "Thank you for a lovely Thanksgiving holiday."

Macy smiles, but she still looks concerned. He can practically hear the whirring noises of her brain trying to figure something out. It's why he leaves a bit more quickly than he should, without saying goodbye to Mel or Maggie. "Give them my best," he says instead, on his way out.

~~

_December_

After Thanksgiving, he avoids the sisters when there isn't specifically demonic activity to worry about. But oddly enough, they start avoiding him as well.

For weeks, there’s one reason or another why he can’t come by. They’re busy, they’re having a ‘no-men’ space—”I don’t count as a man,” he points out, “I’m your whitelighter.” But they won’t hear of it.

He finally concludes that he’s overstayed his welcome, that he’s made himself too comfortable in their home, and now they’re trying to establish some boundaries.

He respects this as best as he can, because it’s true. He’d gotten more comfortable in their home than he is in his own.  Typically, he’s not so foolish, and yet here he is.

Then, he's invited to the Christmas party.

It's a bit of a mixed signal, and Harry begins to wonder if he's overthinking things. He still sees the sisters constantly. He's being paranoid. He'd been the one avoiding them at first, after all.

They greet him cheerfully, perfectly happy.

He leaves their gifts near the tree, and gratefully receives a coquito from Maggie, and makes himself comfortable until they exchange gifts.

Then, a demon appears, only to get vanquished into a pile of goo minutes later.

"I hope he didn't get the presents," Maggie says, hurrying over to the tree. "Oh, good." She straightens up and lets out a sigh of relief. She meets Mel's eyes. "Everything's good."

"Perfect," Mel says, and Macy pops back in with a bucket, gloves, and bleach.

"First," she says, "A sample." Macy bends down and scoops up a dab of demon goo into a plastic container, and then hands it off to Mel. "Can you put this with the others?"

Mel shrugs, but she does what Macy asks. By the time Mel returns, they've finished cleaning up all of the goo, and everything is good as new.

"At least it didn't smell," Maggie points out. "Though really, I wish they always cleaned up their own messes. I don't see why they have to leave goo behind."

"I don't make the rules," Harry shrugs when Maggie looks at him pointedly, looking for some kind of legitimate reasoning. 

 "Let's do gifts now," Mel says, rubbing her hands together. "That big one has my name on it."

"Have you been peeking at the presents?" Macy asks. "Because it literally does have your name on it."

"I didn't open it," Mel points out, "But—"

"Presents!" Maggie says loudly. "It's time for presents."

"Oh yeah," Mel says, nodding solemnly. "It is time for presents."

Harry frowns, and looks between the two of them as if they're possessed (always a possibility). He looks to Macy, but she just smiles, and then leans down to grab a small box. 

"This one is for you," she says. "Open it first."

Harry takes the box, and opens it up with ease. He stares at it for a moment. "A key?"

"For the house," Maggie says excitedly. 

"I already have a key," he points out. "Also, I can always orb inside."

"It's symbolic," Mel says. "Because we got you something too big to put in the box."

They lead him then over to the basement door.

"I feel like this is a midway point of a horror film," he murmurs, but the sisters ignore him.

He opens the door and steps down the stairs. "Where is the light?" he asks.

Someone flips it on, and he sees a very nice room where previously there had only been a regular basement.

In fact, it rather looked like someone could live there.

"It's for you," Maggie says.

"We'd like you to move in," Macy says.

"For convenience," Mel says. "Mostly. But also because you're a part of the team. And the family."

“The attic is for witchy stuff,” Maggie points out, “So we cleared out the basement instead. It sounds creepier than it really is.”

“It’s not creepy at all,” Harry says, placing his hand over his heart. He's struggling against tears, and losing quite mightily. “It’s lovely, but—”

“No buts,” Mel says. “You should be here with us. You’re practically a part of the family.”

“You are a part of the family,” Macy corrects, and Mel nods her agreement.

"I don't know what to say," he says finally. It's actually quite lovely even beyond the monumental nature of the sentiment. "Is this why you were avoiding me?"

"I told you he'd notice," Maggie says to Mel and Macy. "We did what we had to."

Harry smiles. "I can't move in here. It wouldn't be entirely appropriate."

"It's 100% appropriate," Mel says.

"Mathematically," Macy agrees. "Even beyond our response time, which is the most obvious—" Maggie pats her shoulder, and she stops. "That was not what we rehearsed," Macy says with a laugh.

"We have a lot of reasons why we think you should move in," Mel says. "We think you need us as much as we need you."

He studies their faces carefully, looking for any doubt. He doesn't see any. In his heart, he knows the right answer. "I would be honored," he says finally.

The three of them circle around him and they all share a hug. And now, he feels at home.

(Oddly enough, after this, the nightmares stop entirely.)


End file.
